Vinodan vs State of Kerala

V.K. Mohanan, J.—The above revision petition is directed against the order dated 21.7.2014 in Crl. M.P. No. 1521/14 in Crime No. 549/11 of Varappuzha Police Station, at the instance of the petitioner therein, who is the 74th accused in the above crime. The grievance of the petitioner is that the prayer of the petitioner for releasing Passport was declined by the learned Magistrate, as per the impugned order, on flimsy ground. Therefore, he preferred the above revision petition with a prayer to set aside the above order.

Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Public Prosecutor.

It appears that the petitioner is involved in a very serious crime in which the offences alleged against the accused, including the petitioner, are under sections 366(A), 372, 373, 376, 354 r/w 109 of IPC. It is also a fact that the police after conducting investigation laid the final report in the above crime 15 days back. However, it is relevant to note that by an order dated 11.9.2013 in Crl. M.A. No. 7084/13 in B.A. No. 5726/13, this Court directed the court below to modify the conditions appropriately. Accordingly, the petitioner again approached the committal court and by order dated 3.9.2013, his Passport was released for 3 months. Thereafter, the Passport was again released for a further period of 6 months as per the order in Crl. M.P. No. 3334/13. Though the petitioner preferred Crl. M.P. No. 1521/14 with the identical prayer, the learned Magistrate has declined the said prayer on the ground that he had failed to comply with the condition imposed as per the order in Crl. M.P. No. 3334/13 to surrender the Passport on the expiry of 6 months period. The learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the 6 months period fixed as per the order in Crl. M.P. No. 3334/13 was expired on 4.7.2014, which was a Friday. According to the learned counsel, he had produced the Passport on 7.7.2014 on the next Monday after 4.7.2014 and there was a delay of 3 days. However, the learned Magistrate, holding that the petitioner has failed to surrender the Passport on 4.7.2014 in terms of the order in Crl. M.P. No. 3334/13, has rejected his application.

Going by the above facts and circumstances, it can be seen that in terms of the order passed by this Court in the above referred order, the learned Magistrate on two occasions released the Passport and the petitioner had complied with the conditions stipulated on two occasions. However, when the Passport was released on the second time, he could not produce the Passport before the expiry of the date fixed by the court below, but he produced the same within 3 days thereto. That being the position, according to me, the said default on the part of the petitioner cannot be treated as negligence or laches in producing the Passport. Therefore, considering the fact that the petitioner had surrendered the Passport on all occasions whenever the Passport was released to him, the learned Magistrate ought to have granted the prayer as sought for.

The learned Public Prosecutor submitted that as the investigation is completed and the Police had laid the charge, the learned Magistrate is likely to commit the case to the Sessions court without any further delay and therefore the presence of the petitioner is required. However, in the light of the decisions reported in Fasar Shaheen Vs. State of Kerala [2009(3) KLT SN13(C. No. 15) ] and Vikraman and others Vs. State of Kerala, the presence of the petitioner is not required when committing the case to the Sessions court and therefore even if the petitioner goes abroad, the same will not stand in the way of the committal court in committing the case to the Sessions court. Therefore, for the aforesaid reasons, according to me, the court below can be directed to release the Passport to the petitioner, however subject to conditions.

In the result, this revision petition is disposed of setting aside the order of the court of Judicial First class Magistrate-1, North Paravur, dated 21.7.2014 in Crl. M.P. No. 1521/14 in Crime No. 549/11 of Varapuzha Police Station. The learned Magistrate is directed to release the Passport of the petitioner for a specific period or till the receipt of summons from the trial court in the above case, by incorporating appropriate conditions, so as to ensure the presence of the petitioner to face the trial in the above case.